Besê Erzincan: Women should develop their own organized structures

Like the YPJ in Rojava, women in Afghanistan and throughout the region must succeed in establishing their own system. Kurdish and Afghan women must fight together and learn from each other, says Besê Erzincan of the KJK.

Besê Erzincan, a member of the KJK (Community of Women of Kurdistan), commented to ANF on the current political developments. She stated that the Kurdish people, including women and youth, are going through a difficult and critical time. She said that a new dawn in the liberation struggle is only possible in an organized way. For this, the possibilities already fought for must be seen. Besê Erzincan called for radicalizing the struggle: "We are in a time when we have to develop the organized resistance."

In the extensive interview, Besê Erzincan also discussed the latest developments in Afghanistan and said: "The US has withdrawn from Afghanistan and left the country to the Taliban. The reason given is its own weaknesses and economic difficulties, but in fact the plan is to weaken states such as Russia, China and Iran by confronting the Taliban. Iran is targeted. In this way, a new world order is meant to be created. Afghan women and the entire population are being sacrificed in this war for new balances of power."

Besê Erzincan recalled that the main slogan during the US occupation of Afghanistan had been the freedom of women. "Now the exact opposite has been achieved. The US has not been able to implement its plans in Afghanistan, and its policies have also not allowed alternative forces of freedom to develop. In the end, society and especially women have been handed over to the Taliban as one of the most reactionary forces in the world."

The US President Joe Biden has distinguished himself primarily with pronouncements about women's rights and has given women a lot of space in his cabinet, Besê Erzincan continued, "However, there is no organized grassroots women's movement in the US. There is no question of a broad organization that defends the strength, colors and thoughts of women on the basis of democratic principles and participation. There are no women's councils to control and give direction to the women included in the government. That some women have assumed certain roles within the system therefore remains an individual and symbolic act. The exploitation of women remains as the essential core of the system. Today, many women's movements are questioning the system in which individual women are included in power and thus become more like men."

With the same patriarchal mindset, Afghanistan was left to the Taliban, Besê Erzincan explained: "Women need to focus on what women's liberation really means. To have expectations of the US is to be tied to the US and therefore to men. Instead, women need to develop their own organized structures, a self-defense system, and women's alliances. Women must make their own decisions in all areas of life and establish their own system that meets their demands. In this regard, Rojava is a good role model. Like the YPJ in Rojava, women in Afghanistan and throughout the region must succeed in establishing their own system. Kurdish and Afghan women must fight together and learn from each other. The women's movements in Rojhilat [Eastern Kurdistan/Western Iran] should also play an important role in this."